PHIL 265: Philosophical Issues of Gender and Sex [Spring 2019]

All of us have individual identities shaped by our sex and gender. But what is sex? What is gender? How do they shape our lives, and how should they? In this class, we will look at the work of philosophers, social scientists, activists, and others who try to determine who we are and how we ought to treat one another. The questions we will explore include:

Why would we care about what sex and gender are? We will define oppression and consider how sex and/or gender might be involved.

What are sex and gender? We will attempt to define these concepts and look at varying views of how they affect our lives.

Are women and men essentially different? We will discuss some ideas about what makes the sexes and genders different and what they have in common.

If there is sex- and/or gender-based oppression, how should we respond to it? We will close by considering two issues in the philosophy of sex and gender: first, whether women make a distinctive contribution to morality; and second, whether women (and men) would benefit from changes to marriage law.